'Kasav does not hail from Pak'

New Delhi/Faridkot (Pakistan), Dec 18: 'Azam Amir Kasav is not a Pakistan citizen, ' said High Commissioner Shahid Malik on Wednesday, Dec 17. Malik also told that Maulana Masood Azhar is not in Pakistan, quoted The News.

'The lone survival of Mumbai terror attacks hails from our village' told the residents of a village in Pakistan Punjab's Okara district to a British Daily recently. According to a report in The Observer, electoral lists for Faridkot show 478 registered voters, including the name of Kasav's father Mohammed Amir.

The paper also stated that the village was an active recruiting ground for the banned militant group Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), according to a youth who refused to reveal his name for his own protection. "We know that boy (caught in Mumbai) is from Faridkot,' he said. 'We knew from the first night [of the attack]. They brainwash our youth about jihad, there are people who do it in this village. It is so wrong,' he added.

According to the villagers and other locals, Kasav has not lived in Faridkot for about four years but would return to see his family once a year and frequently talked of freeing Kashmir from Indian rule.

Kasav's origin holds a pivotal importance to the ongoing investigation on Nov 26 Mumbai terror attacks. This matter will have a significant impact on relations between India and Pakistan.